Air and water tight joint for tunnels and similar structures.



A. LBNNON." AIR AND WATER TIGHT JOINT FOR TUNNEIJS` AND SIMI-LARl STRUCTURES.

AyrLIoATIoN FILED MA-A20, 1'90'9.

Pat

ented Sept.y28,1909.

\ zAsHEETs-'HBBT 1.

A. LENNON.

AIR AND WATER TIGHT JOINT FOR TUNNELS AND SIMILAR STRUCTURES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 20, 1909.

935 ,37 6, Patented Sept, 28, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

liningl or lianjejcil plates of the s .ALFRED Lennon, on oLliinnmnGE, NEW Yom;

am eno Wirren Non@ foin@ een rennais ani) srs-amas, STRUCTURES.

liasses.

application ined March To all w/lioii'i, iii Amay concern.' K

lie it ltnoiin that il.; -liiiifinin Lennon, a citizen 'of the tlliieliriilgje, in the coiiiity olf lilster' and Avtai'e o Yew York, have inventedl new 'and useful niproveineiits in ir and "Water iight Joints ior Tunnels anil 'iiinilar Straee: oil which the 'folloiifing is a specificaseiit invention relates to im roi'ein lliiiiltiglit joints 'for nieiai tures aiiil ity is i ,sealiiigij and in tions ot tiinni s? eais i'iiie riict ii'es, anil it ln niaiiiji' provide a l joint which capz-ible o' e iially 'ing air unilei' liiali presento witiiin the. t n ncl or structure anil also preventing' the entrance oi Water into the iniiel when such pressure relieicil, the joint being so con striicteil that tlie callting or packing` inaterial cannot possibly becoiiie dislodged, and 'when siicli calltingr or iiacliing material is in placev` a keying action 'is produced between the ilangetl sections that will ei'i'eetiially piei'iiit relative shittingi inoiv ent that would iig' bolts, the con- 'roo specially ailapteffi for use in.

too-ether the tlangeil sec`r siibnia ieiiii to shear the connecti struction ol the joint being siicli that the tiiictiii'e ina y be built up and sealeil iif'liollj/,f' troni the intoi'ior ol' the iiiiinclor lo these and other einls, the invention consists in certain inipi'oi'en'ients, and combinations and arrangeinenis ot' parts, all as will be hereinafter inore f'iilly described, the iioi'el features being pointed out particularly iii the clainis at ilie end ot' the specification.

ln the acconipanying; rlraii'ing: Figure l represents a sectional i'ieiv ot' ilie adjacent tlaneeil portions ot' tiro sections ot' a tiiiniel or similar sti' iiiiiic. fiili flanged portions beiner l'oi'ineil to ei le a joint to be nitide iii accordance with the presentinvention; Fig'. 2 is a View siinilar to Fig; i showing` the milking' anil parking niatei'ial in position. the joint being' complete: Fig'. 3 is a perspective iieii' of a segmental flanged sei'tioii of a tuuiielo analog-ous structure; :iiiil Fig. l represents a transverse section ot' a i'iiniiel the sections ot` which are iiiiitetl i settling llniieil tlat'es residingl atl tions,

slioiin one tion wherein the saine is applied to a iiiiineh nissen or sliai't liniiigi/ anil the invention is owing` lo especially applicable to siicii ase the i; #that the ab 'ig eflges oi the si-c `oniposiiig the `liiiciiii'e niiist be sealeil the entrance of 'ii'ater es iieil as to lite i of :iii ifroiii the interior oi" Lic rue tiiie. and inoreoverJ il l 'jin 'cilioii ci' the callting; or pacltiiio' naterial iiiectiially prev vents relative shi o oli'l the sections iin-it might canse sliearii at the connectinitg bolts. lt. will be iinderstoi, ioiveiei', tliatl liaise shown but one einboiliinent of the iniieiiiioii as an example, and that certain clninges or inediti @ations niay be. inaile in applying` the invention to dili'erent iises.

Ain the present i nce, l aiiil 2 designate the adjacent sections i a tunnel or siinilai' structure, these sections having inturned tianges v3 and el. respectively, the faces ot which are arranged in parallelism and are` ilraiin together as near as practicable by incanso't a suitable niiinbei oi connecting bolts 5, these bolts being,l arranged within the outer walls of the two sections. A channel (l is torineil between the' abutting,- sections, thescininiiel in the present` instance being substantially circular in cross section and is piinliicecl by providing an approximately seiiii--;:iiciilar groove or recess in the abutting tace oit' each section, these recesses being com lei'neiital, and when the sections are assein led, foi-innig` thecha'nnel. A passage T leads into tlii:` channel Jfrom the inner side olt eithei one or both ot' the tunnel sections, this passage being'shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as eX- tending into the channel 'roin a point where `the i-ntiirneilliaiige 3 joins the body portion of' the plate or section l and its inner end is preferably,threaded to receive a. plug S, the latterl being removable or insertible troni the interioi'l 'oi the tunnel.

The packing material for tlie'channel (3 preferably pumped or otherwise conducted into the channel through the passage 7 groiit in a plastic condition' being preferable, this groot While in a plastic or semi-liquid forni iloiinng readily into the channel (3 and after or liarileiiing.;7 it forins a packing or cement.- V served, is arranged exteriorly of the bolts of these flanges and leading outwardly from'I that will fill every crevice between the abutting tunnel sections. ln practice, difficulty is usually experienced in drawing the flanged faces of the two sections into contact, a space being thereby leftbetween the sections. This grout, however, when forced into the tunnel o in a liquid or semi-liquid form will How through the channel into the space left between the opposed faces of the two sections so to thereby fill such space, and a portion ,of the grout may also escape to the exterior of t-he tunnel. Such grout as may escape, however, in this way will not be wasted the space between the outer wall of the tunnel and the earth is usually filled with grout This channel it will be ob- 'and hence the grout injected into this channel` will fill not only the channel but also any space that may exist between the opposed faces of the flanges, and a portion of this grout may also flow into the space surrounding the bolts 5, it being therefore impossible for any water to enter the tunnel through the joint either through the bolt. openings or from the entrance of water from the ex-v terior and also to. prevent the escape of compressed air within the tunnel, a second channel 9 is formed between the opposed faces of the flanges 3 and 4 at their inner ends, this channel extending the full length their inner ends and the outer edge ofthe channel 9 terminates in an enlargement which isyformed by angular offsets 10 and 11 that.l areformed in the opposed walls of the two flanges, the walls 12 and 13 of the channel being inclined in divergent relation until the widest portion of the channel is reached, and the bottom of the channel being formed by the convergent surfaces 14 and,

15, the latter surfaces reaching an apex which is coincident with the plane occupied by the opposed faces of the two flanges. A packing 16 of appropriate material is :forced into the channel 9 from the interior of the tunnel, a ca-lking material being preferred such as lead which may be hammered into the channel so that the enlargement therein sha-ll be completely filled. .This packing 16' will preventany water from reaching the 'interior of the tunnel throu h the space formed between the opposed anges, it will prevent compressed air from the interior of the tunnel from escaping throughA any space 'that may exist between the opposed flanges and, moreover, the offset construction of' the channel which isl formed partially in each flange will enable the lead or other packing material to effectually key the flanges so'as.

to prevent relative movement thereof that flanges of the adjacent. sections whilethe j end flanges of each section coperate with those of the adjacent sections, these sections being assembled as the boring of the tunnel progresses. The grout-receiving channel (i of the joint is produced by forming a segmental recess 22 in each section which preferably extends entirely around the saine, and the channel9 is produced by forming an appropriate recess 23 which extends entirel)r around the section, the complemental portions of the channels G and 9 registering when the sections are assembled.

In Fig. 3, a. pair of inlet passages 24 and 25are shown, one in each of the lateral anges of the tunnel section. Either of these inlet passages, however, might be omitted, or any desirable number'of such passages may be providedV and they may be located atany appropriate pointsin order that the grout may be introduced into its appropripte channel with the greatest facility, but 1n all cases, these passages are so formed that. the grout may be introduced fromthe interior of t-he tunnel owing to the fact that the exterior of the tunnel is usually inac-v cessible. Any appropriate measures may be taken to prevent the escape of the grout along the end flanges of the sections while the tunnel is in course of construction, it. being usually suflicient to insert a plug of lead or other material as a stopper for the exposed ends of the grout-receiving channels.

- A joint constructed in accordancewith my present invention may be applied inexpensively to tunnels and similar structures and, in practice, it enables the joints between the various sections to be readily and effectually sealed to the entrance of water or the escape 'of airl and at the same time the sections of, the tunnel or other structure are effectually keyed together so that shifting of the sections and a consequent shearing of the bolts is avoided.

ess-,eve

I claim as my invention 1.. A tunnel or similar structure built up of a plurality of sections Jnrovided with in- A of said sections, one packing being` plastic and arr-anL ed exteriorly oat' sail connecting devices ant the other.v interiory thereof.

Y2. A tunnel or similar structure builtup of a plurality of sections having inturnecl coope 'ating flanges, devices extending through and connecting said flanges, a channel being formed by complemental recesses in the "op posed faces or" said sections at a point exteriorly of said connecting devices, and means for introducing a packing material into said channel from' the 1nterior of the tunnel. f 3; A tunnel or simila'r structure built 'up of a plurality of sections having inturncd abutting flanges, devices extending through and connecting salcl flanges, a. channel be ing formefl between the opposed faces of sald sect-ionsia-t 'a point enteriorly of sai connecting devices, and a passage leadingl into said'channel from the interior of the tunnel and serving as means tor introducing" a plastic packing material into such channe 4. A tunnel or similar structure built up of a plurality of sections having internal abutting hangen devices extending throngh and connecting said flanges at points re# moved outwardly from their inner ends, a channel being formed between thejopposecl faces of said flanges ancl adjacentlqtc theirl inner ends, such channel having {nischenlargements formedin the respectif; walls of the flanges, and a packing filling sr'ch channel and the enlargement therein to pro- (luce a finiti-tight 4jointbetweenthe flanges and to serve as a key to prevent relative shifting thereof.

In a tunnel or similar structure, the? combination of sections provided with in'- turnerl abutting flanges, devices extending through and connecting said flanges, a channel being formed by coinpleznental grooves in the abutting faces ot' the respective lianges adjacent to their inner ends, such channel' havingan enlargenient` at its outer enge formed by lateral osets in the respective flanges, and packing calirecl into Salti channely and filling the enlargement therein t3. ln a tunnel or similar structure, the combination of sections provided', ith inn lturned abutting Aflanges, devices -estending tlnongh andoconnectinfg said flanges, a chan nel being formed by coinpleinental grooves foi-meld. in the opposed faces o the tlanges angaeent4 to the inner ends, the outer sails ,of such channel being inclined. in divergent 1 relation to forni an enlargement anal then convergent 'toward the of the lian as anapen, anti s. packing of no.rlila/ile material callrefl into anch channel a nl the enlar ementJ thereof.

T. ltunnel or similar structure built ni:- o a plurality of sections, ach section being provided with a pair of lateral int-innenA flanges and a pair inturned end sections united to the lateral flanges, rlevices extending through anni connecting the langes of adjacent sections, a groeve e ending around one section anni registering with similar 7s grooves in afljacent sections to form a paci;- mg receiving channel, passages extending into'snc'h 'channel' from the interior et" each section and serving as means- "for intreclncing groin?y into such channel, the inner edges of the flanges being-provided with grcnves and lateral'otlsets t form a channel having an 'enlargement therein, and a packing; csilveff, into such channel and. filling the enlarge nient therein. es l-n testimony vfhereo ll have here inte my hand in presence of two subscribing i. nesses. z 

